﻿The actor details his numerous action scenes in the thriller Zero Calling 2 and explains how his character, reluctant vigilante David Tan, has changed since the show's first season.By Han Wei Chou﻿

Pierre Png reprises his role as the reluctant vigilante David Tan in Zero Calling 2. (Photo: Channel 5)

﻿SINGAPORE: Actor Pierre Png revealed Tuesday (Apr 21) that he had a lot more action sequences in to upcoming the second season of Zero Calling. The drama won him a Best Actor in a Leading Role award at the Asian Television Awards last year.“The body count in Season 2 has skyrocketed! I got to do a whole lot more action scenes this season. I love doing all the action sequences! I have always been an ‘action man’. But, as the years go by, the injuries take longer to heal. There are a lot more battles … and a lot more injuries,” Png told Channel NewsAsia.

Pierre Png sporting 'bruises' on his face while shooting Zero Calling 2. Yet, not all his injuries were fake. (Photo: Pierre Png)

﻿“I got into a fight with one of the characters in the show. I received quite a few unintentional blows from him. One went straight to my thigh muscle. It was quite badly injured. You can ‘cheat’ as much as possible, but there will still be some shots where you have to show contact!”Zero Calling 2 picks up where the first season left off. Png’s character David Tan is forced to carry out the will of Zero, an enigmatic cyber-terrorist who has the power to hurt his family if he refuses.

﻿Tan eventually manages to break Zero’s hold on him and now seeks vengeance on Zero One, the leader of shadowy Zero Legion, of which Zero is a member, in Season 2.Tan later reluctantly agrees to work with Interpol and bring down the organisation. However, things get complicated when his own stepdaughter Maddy Wu (Hayley Woo) begins to walk down a dark path, and he gets a new boss, the ruthless Agent Fong (Janice Koh) who is willing to sacrifice anything – even him – to get the job done.

﻿“We see David going through a journey and becoming quite crazy in Season 1. In Season 2, his family is reunited for the moment. He wants to fight the Zero Legion, but he doesn’t want to be a vigilante, he doesn’t want to mete out justice on his own. He believes nobody is above the law. This time, he joins forces with Interpol and goes after members of the Zero Legion who ruined his life. Every character has grown and there will be more twists and turns this season!” explained Png.“I think it will be even more interesting than Season 1 because it is also episodic. We learnt from Season 1 that if you were to miss out a few episodes you won’t be able to catch up. If you miss out one in Season 2, you will probably still be able to understand what is going on, as every episode is self-contained, and there is a main story thread going through series.”

﻿Png revealed that working on Zero Calling 2 was interesting, albeit a little stressful at times. However, he got on "very well" with his co-stars, and the show’s director Lee Thean-jeen.“We get the script as he is writing it. A lot of times, it is almost as though Thean-jeen had painted himself into a corner (in terms of the show’s storyline), but he always comes up with something and it is amazing!” said Png.But he said production for Zero Calling 2 was like shooting the hit sitcom, in which he starred, Phua Chu Kang. "It is work, but didn’t feel like work. I kept thinking ‘Come on, why can’t we do it like Lord of the Rings and shoot like four seasons back to back!’”

Pierre Png said he hopes there will be more seasons of Zero Calling, and described working on Zero Calling 2 as a "very immersive experience". (Photo: Han Wei Chou)

﻿For now, Png will be spending his time getting ready for his next project, a Mandarin drama which marks his first collaboration with MediaCorp’s Malaysian production arm. He will be heading for Malaysia in May and will spend about four months there.But viewers will still be able to see him in action in Zero Calling 2, which airs every Monday from Apr 27, 9.30pm on Channel 5. Zero Calling 2 also stars Elizabeth Lee, Lawrence Wong, Shabir and Vanessa Vanderstraaten.